One Is and One Isn't
by potterfan36041
Summary: Tommy is injured and because of a friends pleas, Trini goes back to Angel Grove to try to find what she is missing. It, however, is not as easy as she hoped it would be.
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: _I do not own the Power Rangers or anything affiliated with the subject. I do, however, own the character of Alex Meyers.

**Prologue**

_Trini's POV_

Tommy being injured stunned us all and for a few days. None of us ever thought that he would get injured this bad, we thought he was superhuman, we had to. All of us had to be like that to a certain point. We all wondered if he would be able to live through the injuries that he had sustained this time. None of us had ever seen someone be hurt that badly.

Alex returned to Florida the next morning, to tell their coach about what had happened, in a round about sort of way. He said that Tommy was in a wreck, but even though that wasn't the truth it was enough to get across that he was hurt and it was bad enough that Kim was not coming back, ever.

Alex came back that weekend to bring Kim some things that she needed, but other than that, we haven't heard much from him. He respects what happened and although he honestly cared about Kim, he saw what he was asking her to give up if she was to stay with him.

Tommy, however, could not recover on Earth the way that we wished he could and because of his value to the team, we could not allow the doctors here to take care of him. We sent him to Aquitar, where they could heal him easily. We couldn't risk him dying and the rangers losing him, but his going also caused some problems.

Kim did not like the idea of sending him to Aquitar and Kat backed her up on her rebellion, for a little while. She knew what had almost happened to Billy when he had gone to Aquitar and Kim knew that she didn't want to lose Tommy again. He was able to rehabilitate there much better and from what they could see, the scarring is at a minimum and that is a blessing. He will not have to remember the attack by the scars that it left on his body. He will only have the dreams that haunt him forever.

The school didn't exactly understand why Tommy was not going to be at school or why he was not in the local hospital, but Zordon thought of an excuse. His parents know where he is, but they have been sworn to secrecy, like the rest of us. The school had to accept the excuse once the Oliver's stepped in and said that it was the truth. He did have to be transfered to a bigger hospital that could handle these types of cases. They couldn't exactly go against the very people that had put him in the hospital, now could they?

Another very interesting thing happened while Tommy was being rehabilitated. Kim took on the responsibility of the red ranger, which made her the first female red ranger and the first Zeo ranger to exchange powers. I don't think that many of them could believe that a female was taking the role, but considering the fact Jason was already the Gold Ranger they didn't have much of a choice but to give her the powers. Plus, she couldn't bear to leave Angel Grove, like her coach begged her to and she did what she felt was right. Now, I just hope that I can do what is right for me.

AN: I know this is really short, but that is why I am going ahead and posting the second chapter as well. Have fun reading!


	2. Coming Back

_Disclaimer: _I do not own the Power Rangers or anything affiliated with the subject. I do, however, own the character of Alex Meyers.

"Tommy," Kim whispered as she shook his shoulder to wake him up and he didn't budge for a few seconds. She then resorted to pulling at his hair, hoping that it would wake him up. She knew that he was still exhausted from his trip, but he had to get back to school today. The teachers were already suspicous enough and she didn't want for it to be any worse on him than it already was. He had a lot to make up and some questions were definitely going to be asked. "Tommy, you have to get up to go to school this morning. The Aquitarians say you are healed and you know Zordon expects you to go to school. Things are bad enough as is without you missing anymore school."

"Kim," Tommy moaned, as he looked up and saw that she was not playing with him. "Five more minutes? Please?"

Everyone else would have taken things easy on him, but he knew that she was not going to do that. He already had too much work to make up and he couldn't afford to miss any more days. The teachers had not bought the story that they had sold to them and she was sure that they really wouldn't once they saw him walking around, like normal. They would expect to see some sign of external injuries, but there were none left, except for the slight scar on his chest.

"No, sir. I know how long it takes you to get that mess of hair straight. You gotta get up now, Tommy if you are going to even have a chance to get to school on time. Come on," Kim said, as he shook his head and then decided it would be in his own best interest to do as she asked.

He did not want to get in a fight with her on his first full day back on Earth. He had missed her just as much as she had missed him and he really did want to be on speaking terms today. He knew that he was going to need her help to get through it all.

"Well, I never thought that you'd be the one waking me up. My parents would barely leave me alone last night after I got back. I didn't think that I was going to ever get up here to go to sleep," Tommy said as he sat up. His body was healed, but he still had to readjust to Earth's gravity pull and that was a little problem.

Kim had been the person to meet him at the Command Center and give him back his powers. She had been the acting red ranger, which shocked him when he found out about it, but he knew she was going through withdrawal now. She couldn't help that the powers belonged to him and he knew that she had given them up willingly, although that never really seemed to help with the withdrawal. It made it worse sometimes, so he knew that he didn't want to push his luck and piss her off this early in the morning.

"I can imagine that they'd be like that, they haven't seen you in a couple of weeks and they are stressed because they now know you are a ranger. My coach called again last night, he was trying to get me to come back. He knew you were coming back this week and thought that would be enough to get me back," Kim said, as she knew Tommy had heard the phone ring at the Command Center.

He had had to hurry up and get home, but she was glad to see him now. His parents had, begrudgingly, let her in this morning. They were having to get used to the idea of them dating again, but they saw it made Tommy happy and that was their biggest concern right now. They knew that he did not need to be under any extra pressure and him being happy was going to be a good thing for him. He had been depressed way too much lately.

"You're staying here, right?" Tommy asked, as he now felt as if he could demand that out of her. This was for them and not for each other anymore and she had agreed to that much before he had left.

"Yeah, I'm staying. I'm not leaving here unless you put me on the plane and threaten me with my life and even then I might not stay too long," Kim said with a smile as he rolled out from under his covers and went to get his clothes out of the closet.

"I'll never do that again. Look what it did to the two of us," Tommy said, adamantly, as he knew that she was waiting for him so that she could head to school. "I'll be at school in a little bit, go on and go."

"Okay, Tommy, but you better be on time," Kim said, going to give him a kiss on the cheek. He knew it wasn't good when she expected him to be on time for something, as he was usually late, to everything. He, however, was going to really try to get to school on time, just to make them happy. "Jason will have my ass if you're not there."

_School_

"Kim, is he coming to school today?" Jason asked as Kim nodded her head yes and he was ready to celebrate.

No one could believe that he was well and it made all of them jubilant. They really were going to have their ranger team back to normal, although Kim did do a good job taking over for Tommy. They just all knew that it was not meant for her to be the red ranger. She had been reacting that bad from the power lately and even she was glad to get rid of them and give them back to Tommy.

"Kat, is Billy going to venture out to visit today?" Kim asked as everyone could not really understand the romantic aspect of their relationship.

They were almost sure that it had been building for a long time, but no one had known about it until the night that Tommy was hurt. It seemed that many things changed that night and most of them were happy about it. They just wished it would not have taken something so drastic to make all of them realize what was wrong with their lives.

"Yeah, he wants to help us celebrate Tommy finally coming home. Does Tommy really look the same?" Kat asked, as Billy had looked different when he came back from Aquitar, but Tommy had not stayed as long as Billy.

"Not the same. He is little bit skinnier, but he's been working really hard to get back here. His scars are gone though. I think he's happy about that and so am I," Kim said, dancing around in front of them and they tried not to laugh at her happiness. Many of them believed that the Machine Empire could attack right now and Kim would still be happy. Tommy was home and that was all that most of them cared about.

"What is that dance for?" Tommy asked, as he put both of his arms around her and she nearly threw her books into the air from surprise.

"You being better," Kim muttered up at him, as the bell rang and all of them went to their separate classes, knowing that the end of the day would ultimately be the best part, as it was Friday and the weekend laid ahead.

_Angel Grove Airport_

"Ma'am may I help you?" The flight attendant asked, as a young-Asian woman stepped off the plane and looked around the airport.

It had been so long since she had seen home and she wanted to remember as much about it as she could. She didn't know how long she would be back, as she had taken an unknown leave of absence from school, but she just hoped things would go well while she was here. If not, she might never come back to Angel Grove again. She wouldn't be able to stand it.

"Can you point me to the cabs?" Trini asked, as she was not sure where they were, as things might have changed a lot over the last year.

"At the entrance there should be a few waiting. I hope you have a good time in Angel Grove," the flight attendant said, as Trini smiled back at her and then continued on her way towards the front door.

She looked down at her watch and noticed that school was going to be over in a few minutes. She was at least thankfull that she was not going to waist half a day waiting for them to get out. If she was lucky, she might be able to find the rangers at the Juice Bar and that was where she headed first.

_Juice Bar_

"Tommy, you haven't been here in forever. What happened to you?" Ernie asked, as he had heard all of the rumors floating around over the past couple of weeks and he thought it was best to hear it from Tommy and no one else. He knew that Tommy would tell him the truth about what had happened to him, as the rumors were getting crazy and he would like to put an end to it all.

"I had a bad sunburn and the treatment took too much out of me for me to be able to do anything normal," Tommy said with a smile as Kim could not believe that lie, but it was funny that he choose that.

She had never seen him get a sunburn in his life, but she knew Ernie just accepted the odd things that they said. He had had to learn to do that after some of their excuses for leaving the Juice Bar, after all he had gotten to where he actually kept a tab for them. He knew they were good for it and that no matter what time they came back, they would sit back down and finish whatever they had been doing and pay him. It was the one normal thing that they had in their life.

"Okay, well here is your regular shake, but I think that you will be getting more where that comes from. You look like you haven't eaten anything in a few weeks, got to get you back to where you were. You need all the energy that you can get," Ernie said, as Kim looked at him. He knew about the party that the rangers had planned for Tommy and he was going to help them, by donating some food to go to Kim's house.

"That's really nice Ernie," Tommy said with a smile, as Kim sipped at her milkshake trying to focus on everything else that was going on in the Juice Bar this afternoon.

"You teaching a class this afternoon?" Ernie asked as some kids were standing behind Tommy, looking expectantly up at him. They had missed seeing him around the Juice Bar and they were starting to wonder if he was ever going to come back. He had been gone for two weeks and that was forever in a six year olds mind.

"No, I may be better, but I'm not up to it yet. I'm going to have to lay off for a few more weeks," Tommy said, as Kim glanced at the kids and then directed them towards Jason, who was more than willing to teach them. Jason knew Tommy needed more rest than what they were used to and he would let him, for a week or two. Then he would drag Tommy back out on the mats so that they could get in some good sparring.

"Are you just going to sit here all afternoon?" Kat asked, as she and Billy walked in and the two of them turned to nod their heads. They had been catching up on everything that had happened over the last two weeks and they both knew that there was much more that had not been discussed. "When are they going to be done?"

"I'd give them about thirty more minutes. They only started a little while ago," Kim said, as Tommy had turned back around to watch them and she knew that he wanted to be out there on the floor with them. Karate was in his blood almost more than anything else and she knew how much it pained him to have to sit still, but he had to. He was going to be pushing it enough to go fight monsters right now, he didn't need to add anything extra to it. "Tommy, don't do things too fast."

"Yes ma'am," Tommy said, good manneredly, as he glanced back at her and froze as he saw who was standing in the doorway.

He knew that the second Jason saw her, that he was going to go crazy. He had missed her like crazy those first few weeks he was away and from what he had told Tommy, it made it seem like he was falling for his best friend. That had to be scary for Jason and it explained why he was excited and upset to have to come back to the rangers.

Trini looked around the Juice Bar and noticed Tommy staring at her, but she knew that he was not going to reveal that she was there. He seemed to see in her eyes that she wanted to see what one person did and he was going to let that happen, if he could manage to keep Kim's attention for long enough.

"Jason, what's wrong?" Rocky asked, as he had just nailed Jason on the side of his face, but Jason didn't seem to really notice the pain he should be in. He was staring at something over Rocky's left shoulder and when Rocky turned around, he nearly fell to his own knees from shock. Man, Jason must have it really bad to allow a blow like that to go without any revenge.

"Trini," Jason muttered, as he walked around the little kids, trying to get to her and then noticed that she was watching his every move. He had not wanted her to notice his actions, but she hadn't told him that she was coming and he was surprised. He was just going on autopilot and he hoped that that did not make her mad at him. "Trini."

"Hey, how have you been?" Trini asked, as Jason gave her a hug and she felt Jason pulling her closer. He had done this right before he left to face the new adversities that lay ahead of the rangers, but she didn't know what it meant. She could only hope about what it might mean for her. If it didn't mean what her gut felt, then she was going to be in for a long couple of days.

"I'm alright. What are you doing here? I thought you were still involved in the Peace Conference," Jason said, as he looked down at her and then noticed that he was receiving some odd glances from the other occupants of the Youth Center.

Kim and Tommy, both, had smug looks on their faces, but he knew that it was no good to try to talk to them. They had been trying to prove a point with him for the longest time and now he saw it as well. He just didn't know what he was going to do to make things right. He was in a relationship and he doubted that Trini would want him to break it off for her.

"I took some time off from the Peace Conference, so I thought I'd come home. It doesn't bother you, does it?" Trini asked, as he quickly shook his head no and many of them noticed that she had rendered him speechless now. "What's been happening here? I got a frantic message from Kim a few weeks ago, but that didn't really explain anything. Then I couldn't get in touch with her, it seems that she moved away from Florida."

"I was hurt," Tommy said, simply, as Trini nodded her head, as she now understood why she had only understood a couple of words in the message.

She had tried to call Kim, but her roommate said she had left the team, that shocked her and she really wondered what the answer was then. She understood it now, but these last few weeks of wondering had made her unsure of everything, including how she felt about Jason.

"Trini, you want to come to my house with me? We're going to be heading over there in a little while," Kim said, as Trini looked at her and nodded her head yes. She was actually planning to ask Kim to stay with her, as her parents had moved earlier that year.

"Jason, you going to finish the class?" Rocky yelled over to him, as he gave Rocky a look that clearly said that he could go to hell right now. Jason wanted to spend some time with Trini and feel things out, because if what he had felt at the Peace Conference was not there, then he could take it. The main reason he had left was because he was getting scared of what he was seeing in himself when he was around Trini. "That's fine, I'll finish up."

"Jase," Trini muttered as she walked up behind him and the four rangers that were sitting at the table exchanged a glance.

This was what they had expected to see when the two of them saw each other again. They weren't sure where Adam and Tanya were, but they knew that the two of them would show up for the little celebration and then they would point it out to them as well. They thought it would be best to get the two of them together, but they didn't know how they were going to do it.

"Yeah," Jason said, looking back at her as she smiled at him and he reached back to put an arm around her and he pulled her up even with him.

"You sure that you are fine?" Trini asked, as she had seen a cloud come over his eyes while he was looking at her earlier and she just wanted to see them light up again.

"Yes, Trini. I promise that nothing is wrong," Jason said, as the smile reached his eyes.

"Alright, Jason," Trini said, as everyone couldn't help but stare at Jason and Trini. Several people were beginning to wonder if Emily was even in picture anymore, then she walked in and it was obvious she was still very much involved.

"Jason," Emily said, as she walked over to him and Trini leapt away from him. She did not want to get in a fight with Jason's friend and Jason knew that. He just wondered how much she knew about Emily and he got the distinct feeling that she knew nothing, which made him inwardly cringe. He didn't want to tell her about his girlfriend this way. He actually preferred that they be several states away when he had to do this. He didn't want to see the deep hurt in her eyes. "Hey, who are you?"

"This is Trini, Trini this is Emily," Jason said and all of them noticed that he failed to mention that she was his girlfriend. Emily looked a little bit put off by it, but she thought Jason would mention it, eventually, but his prolonged silence signaled that he was not going to.

"I'm his girlfriend," Emily said, as Jason looked over her to see Trini's reactions and noticed that she was going to be nice to Emily, it was not in her nature to be mean.

That, however, was not what he was looking for, but he saw the other as well, when he looked her in the eyes. He had hurt her and he had a lot of explaining to do. He knew that he should have told her a long time ago, but he had just never gotten around to it. Well, to be honest, he didn't want to tell her. He had thought that he would be able to get over her this way, but it only made it worse.

"Old friend, nice to meet you," Trini said offering a hand for her to shake and Emily took it, although she was giving Trini an odd look. There seemed to be much more than friendship between the two of them and she knew she was going to have to keep an eye on things. Although Jason's friends had always been nice, they seemed to think that there was better out there for Jason and Trini seemed to be it.

"We're leaving, you coming Emily?" Rocky asked, as he now received a go to hell look from Trini. It was fairly obvious to him, now, that she wanted to talk to Jason alone. It seemed that they had a lot to figure out before she went back to the Peace Conference and none of them wanted to get in the way of that. They wanted for the two of them to be able to do what was necessary, especially since anything could happen to them as rangers.

"No, I'm about to leave with my parents to go to the mountains for a couple of days. I just came to tell Jason good-bye," Emily said as Tommy noticed Jason was uncomfortable with this, but Tommy wondered if he honestly thought Trini would never come back. That didn't seem to be it, it seemed to be something else that he couldn't figure out.

"Bye," Jason said, almost automatically as he gave her a hug and watched her until she left the Juice Bar, then he turned back to his friends. "Lets go before she decides to not leave me alone this weekend."


	3. Restlessness

_Disclaimer: _I do not own the Power Rangers or anything affiliated with the subject. I do, however, own the character of Alex Meyers, who will only be mentioned at the beginning of the story.

"I'd say that was a success," Kim said, as Trini collapsed on the couch from exhaustion.

They had had a great time welcoming back Tommy, but it had been hard on all of them. Tommy was just not used to Earth yet and it was going to take all of them a little while to get used to having him back here. They had all missed their leader, but now that he was back, it seemed that some of his leadership skills had been pushed to the side so that he could just relax, for once.

Jet lag was really starting to set in for Trini and she was wondering why she even came here in the first place. Jason had found someone that he wanted to be with and now she was really alone, but she hoped that what Zack said was right. He seemed to know more about this situation than she did. She just prayed he was right about all of it or she was going to be going back to Geneva with same broken heart that she had right now. She didn't know how much more she could take.

"Yeah, it was," Trini muttered, as Kim looked over at her and then realized Trini might need someone to listen.

She had been fine at the Juice Bar, until Emily showed up and things just went downhill from there for her. Jason had left early, for some reason and they could all tell that it hurt Trini. She had been hoping to get to talk to him for a long time and it didn't make sense that he would leave early. He had to know how she was feeling by the wake he acted before Emily showed up.

He had been saying how much he missed her as well, but they could tell that Emily had been testy this afternoon when she saw Trini and that must be hard on Jason. He was now having to try to not make his girlfriend mad about his best friend, but he couldn't sacrifice the way he treated Trini. They all knew him too well to know that he would draw the line, but it just seemed that tonight he needed sometime to think.

"What's wrong?" Kim asked as Trini looked over at her. Was she really that obvious with her actions or did Kim just know her that well? She supposed it could be either, but she knew Kim would tell her the reason that she was confronting her, eventually. "Trini, I've known you too long than to allow you to sit down and mope about things. What's going on?"

"It's really nothing, just jet lag setting in. I'll be fine," Trini lied as Kim shook her head. She was not going to press the issue tonight. She knew she would have plenty of time to get this out of Trini later, but that didn't mean that she wouldn't tell Trini that she knew what it was about.

"Okay, but if you want to talk about Ja…then I'll listen," Kim said with a smile as she walked over to give Trini a hug and then she headed to her bedroom.

She knew that she needed to go into the Juice Bar early tomorrow, but if she didn't get around to it, she was not going to be too mad at herself. Tommy had just gotten back yesterday and she really needed sometime to adjust to everything. She also needed to talk to Trini and see if she could help her in anyway with the Jason problem. It was obvious that Trini had come just to see how things were with him and she knew that she needed to help Trini, as she had helped her with Tommy.

"I don't want to talk about him. I don't even want to see him," Trini said huffily as Kim smiled again. She knew that meant that Trini really did want to talk to her about Jason, but Trini was not expecting some things today. She had to take some time to digest it all.

Trini went and settled down in the guestroom for a few minutes before she walked back into the living room and sat down to watch television. She could not go to sleep thinking about Jason and she knew that from experience. She had tried it enough during the past and had failed miserably.

She had had this problem since he left the Peace Conference a few months ago. That was what made Zack put her on that plane yesterday morning. She couldn't concentrate on anything and Zack hoped seeing him would let her know where she was headed with him. He had left them on such uncertain terms and Jason had not gotten the type of lashing Zack had wished he could have given him. If it came down to it, Zack was going to come out there to explain things to Jason and hopefully he would understand it then. If he didn't understand it then, it was just hopeless.

"Hey! Open up! Come on Kim! I know you're not asleep! Open up!" Jason yelled, as he knocked at the door. He had gotten home, after a long walk in which he thought about a multitude of things, and then remembered he had left something at Kim's.

He didn't know if he could face Trini alone, but that was a risk he had to take. He had to try to be true to Emily, but Trini just being there made him know that Emily was never going to work out. Trini made him feel ways that Emily had never made him feel since she met him. He felt horrible for putting her in the situation where she would never be any better than second best, but the best he could do was just end their relationship, even if it was not the nicest thing in the world.

"What do you want?" Trini asked as she snatched open the door and revealed to him that she was only wearing a sports bra and a pair of shorts.

He stood there, completely dumbfounded at the sight of her. It had been a very long time since he had seen her like this and although he didn't trust himself when he was alone with her, he knew that she was upset by her body language. He didn't want to see this from her, but he didn't know what to do to make it much better.

He knew that he needed to talk to her, but he was hoping that it could wait until she was more fully clothed. His mind right now was betraying him in more ways than he could imagine it would be able to and Emily would kill him if she knew what Jason was thinking right now.

"Well, I came over here to get my shirt. I left it in the back room. I'll only be here for a few seconds. I'm sorry to disturb you this late at night, Trini," Jason said, as Trini let him in and then went to sit and watch television again. That was what made Jason stop on his way back towards the door. He had thought Kim was up too, but Trini was alone and he knew exactly what that meant. She was not able to sleep and if he didn't help her go to sleep, then she wouldn't sleep at all tonight. He knew about the spells that she had where she couldn't sleep and he seemed to be the only one that could help her go to sleep. Zack had already cussed him out about that one, he just didn't know what was next. "Hey, you alright?"

"Yeah, just can't sleep. The jet lag is bothering me too much," Trini lied, as he sat down next to her on the couch.

He knew that he had some explaining to do with her, he had not meant to hurt her. He had honestly thought this was what was best for all of them, but it wasn't and it was hard for him to admit that he was so wrong. He knew he was human and he made mistakes, but he had never thought that hurting Trini would be something that he would purposely do. That was before he was scared by his own emotions, everything changed when that happened. But how could he explain it to her without revealing everything?

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Emily. We just started dating a few weeks ago," Jason said, as Trini looked away from him and he knew he had hit the spot in her mind that was making her mad at him. At least he didn't have to go digging around for the subject, though. If he had had to do that, he would have had to talk for several hours.

"Sure, Jason," Trini said, as he inwardly sighed.

If he had not come back to be a Power Ranger then it would have been different. They would not have felt awkward this afternoon and Emily showing up wouldn't have bothered either of them, because of what had been happening in Geneva. That, however, was what made Jason come back without as many questions. He was too afraid to lose his friendship with Trini, as he had been sure that would have happened if he stayed. He had never been good at romantic relationships and often screwed them up, he didn't think he could risk the same thing with Trini.

"Trini, I mean it. I got scared at the Peace Conference, okay? I admit it. And now I know some of the things I did wrong, but I can't change it," Jason said and he noticed Trini was glaring at him.

This was not the way he had hoped this conversation would turn out, but he still had the hope of trying to make a decent recovery in her mind. He also knew that he was in no position to confess everything tonight. He wouldn't be able to stand himself if he caused another sleepless night, so he left it at a place that would hopefully keep him from being beat up.

"Have fun with Emily, okay? I didn't come out here to break any thing apart. I just came out here to see you. I needed to see another friend, besides Zack," Trini admitted, as Jason stared at her.

Maybe he should just give her some more time to come around to talking to him. This had been out of the blue for both of them and they both needed time to recover from the shock of it all. If he had known, he would have at least told her, but he had not been ready to tell her. He was honestly afraid to tell her about it. He was afraid of what he might do to her if he admitted he was dating someone else.

"Well, let me help you get to sleep. It's the least that I can do, Tri," Jason said, as he knew about her sleep problems from Zack.

Jason had taken care of it while he was there, but it had stopped before he left and Zack told him that it started back up, leaving him to handle it. He hated to know that he had left her like that, but it couldn't be helped. He had had to come back and help the rangers, but he had been given an outlet. He had ultimately chosen that he would come back here and he was not seeing the other affects of his leaving.

"You don't have to. I'll be fine, Jason. I'm sure that I'll go to sleep sometime tonight," Trini said, as he put his arm around her and then pulled her into his lap. He was going to help her, even if she didn't like the idea of it. They were still friends in his mind.

He was surprised that she curled up against him so quickly, but he noticed that she was really tired and he knew then that it was not jet lag that had been keeping her awake. The look he had gotten this afternoon told him that he had been dumb to leave without bringing her with him or at least telling her how he felt. As her eyes closed, he found himself becoming tired and he fell asleep as well, not knowing what he was going to do about this and not thinking about it either.

AN: Let me know how I'm doing. This is only my second attempt at a Jason/Trini story and I would really appreciate some constructive criticism from the reviewers. If it is horrible, tell me how you think I can improve it and I'll try. Until next time, happy reading!


	4. Nice Awakening

_Disclaimer: _I do not own the Power Rangers or anything affiliated with the subject. I do, however, own the character of Alex Meyers.

_Trini's POV_

I wish that I would have woken up to the smell of coffee or even the sound of birds singing in the yard, but that is not what happened this morning. I know that I may have gotten Kim off of the subject last night, but she sure as hell crashed into my life this morning. I guess I should have known that the silence about this would not last very long. My friends would be able to figure out the real reason I just showed up back in California. I had just hoped to get to really talk to Jason before they figured it out.

"Oh my God. What is this?" Kim shrieked as she walked into the living room and saw Jason and Trini lounged out on the couch.

To say she was shocked was an understatement of what she felt. She had never thought that the two of them would just lounge around like they were. And by the way, when had Jason gotten here and why were they in such a compromising position? It made no sense to her that this was going on in her living room and she didn't even know about it. She had thought that she would know something like this was going on.

"Jeez, Kim. I'm trying to sleep. I'm sure that the roach will crawl away or you could just kill it yourself," Trini muttered as she felt around her "pillow" and then settled back down on Jason's chest, after pulling part of his shirt over her eyes to block out the sunlight. Then she realized that her "pillow" was moving and leapt away from it. She had completely forgetten that Jason was there at all. She had been sure last night that he was going to get her to sleep and then leave, but it was obvious he hadn't. He must have been much more tired than he let on, too. "What the hell?"

"What are the two of you yelling about? What's happened?" Jason asked, as he looked up at Trini and gave her another hug. He then realized what it meant for her to be there. Oh man, he was going to get it when Emily found out and Trini was going to receive her lashings even more and she did not deserve that at all. He did not want Trini to wind up in the middle of their feuding, but he knew that it was going to happen. Emily had always been a little bit jealous of girls that even talked to Jason. Trini was his best friend and he couldn't keep her away and he didn't want her to be away. He just wondered how he was going to explain that to Emily or if he even wanted to explain it to her. "Oh, I'm sorry. Trini I didn't realize how tired I was last night. I didn't think that I would go to sleep."

"Now what is going on here?" Kim asked with a smirk on her face and then noticed that both Trini and Jason looked panicked. Last night they had talked about leaving things alone, but that really lasted for only a few seconds, as Jason and Trini cared more about each other than words could suffice. They just didn't know how to begin moving their relationship in that direction or if they were even ready to risk their friendship for so much more. "Guys, what's going on?"

"We don't know," Jason said, sadly, as Trini began becoming mad and then she jumped off of his lap and walked to the other side of the room. Damn it! He had a girlfriend and she knew that she was testing him in every way possible. She had not meant to put either one of them in the position that they were in now, but she had inadvertantly done that by coming home. She hadn't really imagined that Jason would be dating anyone, but Zack had assured her that things would be fine when she called last night. She didn't believe that right now, but maybe things would change. "Trini...please don't do this."

"Jason, this can't happen now. I will not break up a relationship. I don't feel right doing that to you. You deserve a chance at happiness without me getting in the way of it," Trini said adamantly as Kim looked at Jason, who was feeling rather sick right now.

How could he prove to her that he really did need to break it off with Emily because he would not be happy with her mad at him? He could not stand for Trini to be mad at him about anything, but he knew that what she was asking was too much for him. It was too much to keep putting her second when she wasn't in his heart.

"Trini…that's ... fine," Jason said, as he resigned himself to it, for the time being. He knew he would have to choose between the two of them, one day, but today was not the day, at least that was what he hoped. He also hated to know that Emily probably wouldn't win and he would lose the friendship they had had, but he would rather lose that than to risk losing Trini. "Um, I better go…will either of you be at the park this afternoon?"

"We'll be there," Kim said, as she looked over at Trini and made sure that she understood that she would indeed be going to the park this afternoon. If Trini told her that she was not interested in Jason now, she knew that she was lying and Kim was going to do something about it. Trini deserved to not get the short end of the stick on this deal and it seemed that Jason felt the same way. "Go on, Jason. We'll see you this afternoon."

"Kim, I swear, we didn't do anything. We just fell asleep," Trini said, as she expected Kim to be mad, but the look on her face told her otherwise.

Kim felt sorry for the position that Trini and Jason were now in. They really must love each other, especially considering the fact that Jason had accepted Trini's ludicrous conditions in order to keep her happy. He now felt as if he had to stay with Emily, in order to not make her mad, but Kim knew that wouldn't last long. Jason's willpower was just not that strong.

"I know that you didn't, Trini. I know that neither of you would do that while one of you is in a relationship," Kim said, as she noticed Trini holding her arms where Jason had last touched them. She felt so sorry for them. They shouldn't have had to put themselves through this, but they had done that, even if it was not by choice. "He means a lot to you, doesn't he?"

"Yes and Kim, I can't lose him. I can not lose him, again," Trini muttered as she sank down to the floor and placed her hands over her eyes. She meant it. It had almost killed her when he left to come back here and seeing all of this was not helping her. She just didn't know how much more she could take before she would turn around and go straight back to Geneva, forcing herself to leave him behind.

"I know, believe me I do," Kim said, as she put both of her arms around her and held her close.

Her best friend was suffering and she was not sure that she would be able to help her. She was going to have to talk to Tommy to see what he knew, but until then, she was just going to have to settle for comforting her. She could only hope that Jason had told Tommy something about how he felt for Trini. Otherwise she was going to have a lot to pull out of the both of them.

_Tommy's House_

"Jason, what happened? I thought that you were coming back last night," Tommy said, as Jason walked in and he gave Tommy a look. This couldn't be good. It was never good for him if Jason walked into his house and didn't even say hey. He just did not know if he was up to talking some common sense into Jason this morning. "That bad?"

"It's not bad, but Trini refuses to get close to me, now that she knows about Emily. Tommy, I can't stand it! I can't deal with this! I've always had her to rely on and now she decides to be distant! I need her right now! Why is she doing this?" Jason yelled out in frustration as Tommy stared at him.

He didn't really expect this. Kim had warned him about this coming up, but he didn't believe that it would happen so soon. He actually had found it fairly hard to believe it at all, but now he was seeing the proof, standing right in front of him. Why didn't the two of them just admit how much they cared?

"Jason, calm down man. You know that she doesn't want something to happen that you might regret. Give it some time, she'll come around," Tommy said, as his parents peeked into the living room and then turned back around. This was obviously something that they needed to let Tommy handle, alone.

"I'm regretting Emily right now. I don't need any more time to decide how I feel about that, Tommy, but Trini wants me to just be a good boy and not break up. I can't do it, I just can't," Jason said, as Tommy stared at him. Those sentences spoke volumes for how Jason felt about Trini in comparison to Emily. He just wondered why Jason hadn't said something about Trini earlier. None of them would have pushed him towards Emily if they had known about how he felt about Trini. They had secretly been hoping the two of them would get together for years, but when it didn't happen, they started looking for other people for him to date. They wanted him to be happy. "Tommy, I left Geneva because I was scared of what might happen between us. Now I know that I can't stop myself from becoming more than friends with her. Tommy, she fell asleep in my arms and I didn't move her. I didn't even try to leave her there alone, I fell asleep myself. I can't even stand for Emily to get that close to me! Tommy, I need help!"

"Yeah and you need to talk to Trini, not me. I can't help you with this," Tommy said as Jason stared at him and he knew that he could not believe it at all. He was scared of Trini right now and she seemed to be terrified of him as well.

"Tommy, you don't have any advice for me?" Jason asked, as Tommy shook his head no then he thought for a few seconds before he said anything else.

"Well, is she coming to the park?" Tommy asked as Jason shook his head yes. Well, this seemed like it was going to be easier than he expected it to be. "Well, talk to her. We won't stop you, not after that look that you gave Rocky yesterday."

"Tommy, you can't tell me that you don't understand what it is like," Jason said, begging Tommy to say something that Kim wouldn't say to him.

"I understand, but you don't need to follow my example. I made too many mistakes with Kim the first time," Tommy said, as Jason walked back out the door and slammed it with all the force that he could find. He then reopened it, to yell an apology to the Oliver's and continued on his way. This did not look like it was going to work out as nicely as all of them had hoped it would.

AN: Another short chapter, but I hope that you enjoy the set up that it is giving for the next chapter. Review if you want and criticize if necessary.


	5. Just Another Battle

_Disclaimer: _I do not own the Power Rangers or anything affiliated with the subject. I do, however, own the character of Alex Meyers.

"Kim," Tommy said as Kim walked up to him in the park, just shaking her head.

He had the feeling that Jason had gone back to Kim's to talk to her and he knew that was never a good thing. They often times got in fights over things like this and he was not sure if he was ready to handle that. He was already being pulled in too many directions for him to be able to handle it well, but things would get worse if they didn't do something soon.

"I know, Tommy. You don't have to say anything to me about it," Kim said quietly, as she sat down next to him on a bench. Jason had come back to her house and she had had to listen to him complain about Tommy's insensitivity, but what Tommy said had been the truth. She just knew that it was best to not say that to Jason, he needed someone to just listen to his ranting, and even agree with him about some of it. "They are both in the same boat and they won't help themselves get out of it."

"I figured it would be like that. So, how in the world are we going to get them to realize it without causing World War three?" Tommy asked as he heard his communicator beep, which seemed to always happen when he was finally getting somewhere with an idea. He could not wait until he was able to say that he was done with his ranger work, even if it was only for a few months of peace and quiet. Right now he'd do anything to have a few months to clear his head about everything that had happened lately. "Well, I have to go. Just tell Trini not to worry, we'll be back in a little bit. She probably is going to have to get used to not being in uniform."

"Sure, Tommy. Just remember we had to do this too. We know the drill and she can deal with not being in uniform," Kim said giving him a hug before he teleported away to the Command Center.

Trini, meanwhile, was walking the streets of Angel Grove, trying to collect her thoughts. She had called Zack earlier and he had told her not to give up hope. Jason had told him enough to make him feel that she needed to do this. She needed to come in and rock his world and make him realize that he couldn't give up on having her and she wouldn't let him do that. It was just going to be hard to get both of them convinvced of it.

It just did not make sense to her why he'd be dating Emily if he truly was interested in her. Now, Emily seemed to be a nice girl, but the look she had given her told her that Jason was hers and that she had better plan on just staying friends. She just figured she would have to settle for friends for a long time to come. Jason wasn't going to break up with someone just because she showed up. They were only friends; she didn't have that type of pull.

"Miss," a voice said and Trini continued on her way down the street. She had learned to ignore anyone who didn't call her by name. It saved her the trouble of unnecessary attention that she had gotten from some in Geneva. It was common place for those that knew she was an American to try to get her attention and she just didn't want to deal with that right now. "Trini!"

"What?" Trini asked turning around to see that no one was there that she might know. Maybe she should go back to Kim's and catch some Z's. This really was not normal, even for a former ranger to hear someone calling their name in the middle of a busy street. She had to just be a little more tired than she knew. "I can't be going crazy."

She continued to walk, but suddenly remembered that she had promised to go to the park. As she turned around to head to the park, she noticed a streak of light pass through the sky. That could only mean one thing in this city and she knew she needed to be extra careful. The park was notorious for being attacked and she could only pray that all of them were safe.

"Trini, leave," Jason commanded as she ran up to them in the park.

Kim was fighting, but they all knew that she was out there to protect Tommy. She still didn't seem to trust that he was fully cured and they all admitted an extra pair of hands was nice. Plus, she also knew that there was a real chance that it would be recognized that she no longer had any powers and she might as well be with the rangers.

Jason, however, did not want Trini there. She didn't need to do this unprotected, although she could argue that point with him to no end. She had enough experience to know when things were too bad for her to stay. She would leave then and he didn't need to question her on that.

"No, I'll help," Trini said, as she began to fight. Tommy and Kim exchanged a glance. This was about to prove everything they had thought, because Jason looked tempted to grab her and teleport her away. Then, the monster landed, which caused Tommy to place Kim behind his back, while Jason did the same thing to Trini. "Don't say it, Jase."

"Kim," Tommy said as she nodded her head and then grabbed Trini. Neither of them wanted to test Jason's will or he would protect Trini until his dying breath was taken and they did not want that to happen.

"Trini, come on," Kim said pulling her out from behind Jason and she saw the grateful look in Jason's eyes. He had been worried something would happen and she knew that he was grateful that she was taking her away from the battle.

"They need our help. They are outnumbered back there. We can help them," Trini said, as Kim dragged her along. Trini was honestly getting mad at Kim, but Kim was determined to get her out of the way before she said anything else to her. "Kim."

"They don't want us to wind up dead, which is exactly what will happen if we stick around too long. We have no protection. We aren't rangers anymore; we have to live with that fact," Kim muttered as she continued pulling her away from the attack that was going on behind them.

Kim knew from experience that she had to get away or they'd come after her as well. They knew that she had been acting as the red ranger for the past couple of weeks and it would eventually sink in that she was not in the battle against the Machine Empire. Then they would come looking for her to use her as a lure for the rangers. She did not want for that to happen any time soon.

"Why would they think that? Oh my goodness," Trini said, as she saw Jason and Tommy be thrown in the air and then Kim yanked her away. Trini had seemed to have forgotten what happened during their cut-throat battles, but she couldn't just stand there and watch. It was much too dangerous for them to do just stand around. "Kim, are you sure that they'll be fine?"

"Trini, you should know what happens. Come on, we have to get out of here before they figure out who we are. We don't want them to use us as bait," Kim said, as she knew that if the Machine Empire detected her, they were screwed. She no longer had any protection against them.

"Why?" Trini asked pulling out of Kim's grip and then seeing Kim turn around and stare. Why in the world would she be risking her life right now when Jason wanted her to get as far away from this as possible? Wouldn't she at least listen to him about something like this? "They need help."

"All we will do is distract them, Trini. We have to go," Kim said, calmly as Trini now stared at her. How could they be a distraction? They were there to help them with everything that happened.

"Kim, you have to be kidding me! They know we can help!" Trini yelled, as Kim took a step back. Jason must have hurt Trini more than she had imagined for Trini to be having this type of reaction to a simple battle.

"I'm not, now we have to get further away. We don't have a choice," Kim said grabbing Trini's wrist and pulling her further away from the scene of the battle.

Trini did not argue with Kim, but she still did not like the idea of leaving them alone. She still felt the responsibility to fight, although that responsibility had long been passed from her shoulders to someone else. It was just hard to abandon it when she saw another battle she could help in.

"They gone?" Jason asked, as he scanned the area for Kim or Trini. He had lost track of the both of them once the battle began. He saw neither of them, but he knew that might mean he missed her.

"Yeah. Kim made sure to get them out of the way," Tommy said, as he looked around the destroyed area of the park. This just had to stop for all of them sometime soon. It was starting to become much worse than they had ever imagined it getting, but they always seemed to be able to do things that no one else could. They just had to continue to have faith in themselves that everything would work out fine and dandy in the end. They just didn't know when the end of all of this would come. "We should be able to find them. They couldn't have gotten that far away."

"Jason, what made you do that? What made you protect her?" Kat asked, innocently, as Tommy looked over at her.

Jason might not see through what she was asking, but he certainly did. He knew that Jason was in no mood to answer anything like that. He had to talk to Trini before he could answer that question.

"She's my best friend and I can't let anything happen to her," Jason said and they were almost sure they heard a hint of sadness in his voice.

He continued to be quiet, as they walked in the direction that they had last seen Kim and Trini going. They could all tell he was worried that they had not made it far enough away and might have been captured. They didn't even want to think about what that could do to Jason's well being.

"Well, why are you so down about that? Do you want to be more than friends?" Rocky asked as Jason looked at him and then looked over at Tommy who didn't say a word. Tommy hadn't told them anything, so he was wondering where they got the idea that he was upset from. Jason didn't realize that every action he was making, made it obvious to them that he was very upset about something. They just hadn't been able to figure out what it was yet.

"I just have a lot to think about and I know what I want, but I can't convince her," Jason said, as Kim tackled Tommy, while Trini hung back from the rest of the group. Kim had a lot of things she knew she needed to tell Tommy and he knew that he was not going to believe half of what came out of her mouth. "Trini, come here."

"Jason," Trini started to object as he held up his hand and she didn't say anything else. He just wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug and let her stand there. He knew that there was no way he'd move unless she tried to move away from him, which he had the idea she would not, for awhile. They both were too worried about each other to care what anyone might think about their actions.

"Um, we'll be over there," Tommy pointed as Jason nodded his head and Kim pulled him in that direction. They knew it was best for them to be alone and maybe they would manage to get some of this mess sorted out.

"Since when?" Emily asked, as she walked up behind Jason and he jumped, but did not let go of Trini, although she struggled to get away. Trini did not want to be in the middle of this, but she had the feeling that she landed herself there, by giving Jason a hug. Emily's parents had decided one day was enough in the mountains and she had hoped to spend some time with Jason today, but he had not been at home, so she decided to check the park and she found him, but this was not what she expected to see. "Since when Jason?"

"Emily, we're just friends. I've told you that already," Jason said without a bit of conviction in his voice. He knew she was becoming mad at him, but Trini was his friend and Emily just had to accept that. He was going to try to do what Trini had asked of him, but he knew that it would be nearly impossible for him to do that now. Emily was going to tell him that he had to choose between the two and it was not a choice for him anymore. "Why are you back so soon?"

"That shouldn't matter, Jason. But you are just friends? Just friends? Jason, every time I have seen the two of you together you have been about as close as you were a few seconds ago. It seems like you are much more than friends," Emily said, as Trini took a step further away from Jason, but Jason grabbed her wrist to keep her from pulling away. He had to prove to Trini why he knew he would not be able to stay with Emily. He had to let her know that he cared about her far more than she could imagine.

"Jason, really, you two can talk. I'm fine with it. Just let me go," Trini said, as Emily began to become really mad. Why did Jason need her permission to talk to his own girlfriend?

"He does not need your permission to talk to me. He can do that on his own," Emily snapped as Trini looked at her and then turned and walked away.

Jason knew that Trini was furious right now, but she was by some miracle not yelling at Emily. Trini had really meant every word that she said to him and she was going to follow through with it as well as she could. He just wished that she wouldn't. It would certainly make things much easier on him if she didn't continue to act this way.

"Why do that? She hasn't done a damn thing to you to deserve this," Jason said, coldly, trying to reign in his own anger. It might kill him to do what Trini asked, but he'd be damned if he didn't at least try to do it. She meant much more to him than anyone else, she was just going to have to figure that out or she would have to move on.

"You listen to her more than me. You listen to that bitch and she's not even your girlfriend and it took me three months before you would hug me and you still don't let me get close to you for the most part. Why is your little bitch so special? She gets everything she wants from you," Emily said, as Jason glared at her and tried not to yell the first thing that came to mind. "Jason, say something."

Emily had no clue that she had just crossed an invisible barrier. No one said anything about his relationship with Trini like that and no one called her a bitch. All of his past girlfriends had understood it, but it seemed that Emily was never going to understand it at all. She was not going to understand that Trini was the person he felt the most at home with, which was why this problem was really here.

"Emily, leave," Jason said, almost in a whisper.

The two of them had gotten into fights before, but it had never been like this. It had always been over something stupid and Trini was not something stupid, by any means, in Jason's mind. He knew that he would do something rash if he continued in this fight right now and he wanted to have some time to clear his head before he did anything. He wanted to make sure he could deal with the consequences of either action.

"Jason, I am not leaving. You can't tell me to do something like that," Emily said, outraged, as he walked past her and continued on his way.

"Well, then I'll leave you to continue to bitch," Jason said as he glared over at her.

He knew that he had to clear his brain and that being around Emily or Trini would not help him any. Emily, however, then turned her own anger towards Trini. If Jason was not going to listen, maybe she could make Trini understand that she wanted no part of their friendship in their relationship.

"You did this, you were the one he always called. I should have known you were more than friends," Emily said as Trini stared over at her as the tears started to stream down her cheeks. She was ready to make her pay, but she knew it wouldn't solve anything.

"Trini, sit down," Kim muttered, as Trini stood up and seemed to be intent on going towards Emily and giving her a good lashing.

Trini, however, continued on past her. It seemed that she needed some time to herself and the rest of them wanted to get out from under Emily's enraged gaze. They hadn't known about Jason's infatuation with Trini, but that didn't mean that Emily didn't assume that about them from the beginning. They just wondered how they could be so blind to what their friends had needed for a long time.


	6. Afterthoughts

_Disclaimer: _I do not own the Power Rangers or anything affiliated with the subject. I do, however, own the character of Alex Meyers.

_Jason's POV_

I continued to walk a long way down the lakeside edge of the park, hoping to clear my cluttered mind of everything that was going on around me. After a long time, I sat down at the waters edge and placed my face in my hands. How could I let this happen? How did I get myself into this? How could I do what I needed to do with Trini leaving? How could I continue to be with someone who hated everything that I loved?

Ever since I met Emily, I knew that I would eventually have to choose between her and Trini, as Emily does not want me to even look at other girls, much less talk to them. I just never thought that Trini would come back so unexpectedly and I didn't think that Emily would act like this so soon. I thought she would at least give my friend a chance to just act as a friend, but a few hugs and that was thrown out the window.

I hadn't even gotten a clue about Trini's trip out here in our phones calls, she must have been able to hide everything that was going on much better than I thought she would. I thought that I would know when she was getting close to her breaking point, but I missed it by a long shot. I don't know how I let my knowledge of my best friend slip away so quickly since I left. I didn't think that I would do this to her. I didn't think that I could stand myself if I did and I can't, but can she forgive me for something that she doesn't see as a problem?

I didn't know what else I could do, as sitting there on my ass was not helping me with anything. It actually made it much more confusing and that was the last thing that I needed right now. Nothing that came to mind seemed to be a helpful notion, not at first anyway.

Then I managed to think of a thing that Trini taught me to do when I was stressed in order to clear my mind. I needed to sit down and make a list of everything that was going on with the two of them, anything that came to mind, until I knew what I wanted to do about the situation. With this idea in mind, I headed to Tommy's house, which happened to be empty and I was glad about that fact. I didn't need to worry about him or anyone else bothering me while I tried to figure out how my life had turned downhill so quickly.

_Emily_

_Pretty_

_A girl I met when I came back from Geneva and was lonely_

_Nice_

_Sweet_

_Jealous of every one who comes near me, even my friends_

_I have to keep secrets from her_

_She's becoming suspicious of Trini and she seems to hate her_

_My girlfriend_

_I like her, but I don't love her. I don't know if I ever will see her that way._

_Does she miss me when I'm gone?_

_I don't miss her when she leaves. I actually find myself hoping she'll stay away._

_Trini_

_Beautiful_

_My best friend_

_Someone I can talk to and not worry about the way that they see me. She doesn't judge._

_Nice_

_Sweet_

_Listens to me_

_I love the way she hugs me, I feel like I'm safe. I feel like I'm home._

_I can tell her anything and she doesn't question me about why I hold certain things back from her. She knows that I will tell her if it is important enough and she's not afraid to ask if it bothers her too much._

_She missed me_

_I missed her_

_I love her, I didn't realize it until after I left, but I love her and I don't think it is just as a friend anymore._

_Does she love me?_

_I'm not myself without her around_

_She fits into my arms, better than anyone else I know._

_Why didn't I listen to myself when I said that I'd lose her if I left Geneva without telling her the truth?_

_I haven't lost her, I still have a chance to make things right._

I looked back on my very short list several hours later, knowing that it had helped me clear my head and get a nap I desperately needed. I might have slept well the night before, but my energy had been drained by trying to not yell at Emily when she insulted Trini.

But my list also led me to the conclusion that action was the only thing that would help the problem I was facing about whether or not to choose between Trini and Emily. I don't like what I am going to do to one of them, but I can't continue to do this to myself and to both of them. They deserve to be able to live, without wondering how I feel.

_Trini's POV_

I continued to stalk off towards the Juice Bar, needing a place to relax and hoping Ernie would be willing to listen to me for a little while. My luck did not seem to be in my favor, as I walked up and there was a sign on the door that stated he was out. I could not believe that, but I knew Kim would be home soon. I knew that I needed to be alone in order to even attempt to figure anything out. I couldn't talk to anyone then.

I, also, needed to find a piece of paper and a pen as soon as I could. Damn my conscience and damn my sense of being nice to all people. I had to get Jason off my mind or away from Emily, as I knew that I couldn't continue to live my own life like this and I didn't know how much longer I could ask Jason to do the same.

When I got to Kim's, I found a piece of paper and I then began writing down everything that popped into my mind even if it made no sense or had no relevance to what was going on around me right now. I knew that I was better off getting it out than to let it roam around in my brain, unchecked and unrecognized.

_The look on his face when he first saw me, I can't believe he would look at me like that when he is dating someone._

_He was so mad at her that he whispered. _

_He rarely gets that mad at anyone, unless they step on his toes about a serious matter. What did she say to make him act like that? He doesn't usually get that offensive about me, even though she did call me a bitch._

_Am I crazy for asking him to not break up with her when it is so obvious he wants to do that?_

_I love him; I know that is what I feel for him now._

_Am I misreading all of the signals he is sending? Does he really want to be only friends?_

_He didn't have to be nice to me yesterday, but he helped me get to sleep. After my being a bitch to him when he came back over. He still remembers those nightmares I had before he left._

_Emily's a nice person, I think._

_She doesn't like me though and I can tell Jason doesn't like that._

_I don't want Jason to hurt her and then find out that we are not right for each other._

_Damn, I'm confused. What am I supposed to do?_

_I wish Jason would stop playing around, neither of us have the time for it. He could die out there and he needs to realize that. Or maybe I need to admit that to myself and say the things that I have been pushing out of my mind._

_Was my trip out here useless?_

_Will I ever sleep well without him being around again?_

_I do not understand how Zack can be so right about how this was going to be. He hasn't been around Jason at all since he left._

_I'm calling Zack._

"Trini, do you know what time it is here? And are you insane?" Zack asked, as he grabbed the phone and held it to his ear.

There was only one person that would call him at this time and he was too tired to extend pleasantries. He just hoped that he would be able to think of some advice at this time of the morning. He was not known for being the best thinker, but he knew he had to come up with something decent.

"Zack, Jason's girlfriend yelled at me and accused me of things that I wouldn't even think of doing to or with Jason while he's with someone else. Zack, I just don't know what to do. You are the one that is supposed to help me with these things," Trini said, as he could her the panic in her voice. He knew that she had been making a damn list and he somehow got on it. Why did she always do this when it came to Jason?

"Trini, talk to Jason. Get off your ass and talk to him and don't call me again until you have done that. He's the one that needs to hear all of this, not me," Zack said and then hung up the phone. This was not a fun situation to be in the middle of and he desperately needed some sleep right now.

"Thanks," Trini muttered as she hung up her end of the phone, but she continued to just sit there on the bed. After a few minutes, she rose to her feet and walked out of the house. She had no clue where she was going, but she knew that she had to do something about the situation that she was in, even if it killed her.

AN: I should have the next chapter out in a couple of days. So the more that you review, the faster that I will get the chapter out to you. I hope that you have enjoyed it!


	7. A Little Talk

_Disclaimer: _I do not own the Power Rangers or anything affiliated with the subject. I do, however, own the character of Alex Meyers.

_Jason's POV_

The park is darker than it has been in ages and for the first time in a long time, it is peaceful while I am here. None of the other rangers are around or even know where I am. I've stayed away from them all afternoon, I had to. I have been able to think some more about what happened earlier today and I can only hope I did the right thing. It definitely was not an easy thing to do, but I had to do it.

My list, back home, let me know that I had to talk to Emily and I did, as soon as I could. She is mad at me for what I did, but I know that I am saving the both of us from a great deal of pain that would occur later. Now, I can only hope that Trini will understand everything that I have done and not be mad at me. I can't deal with her being mad at me. I need her to be here for me right now, although I haven't been there for her lately and I really want to make that up to her.

"Who's there?" Jason asked, jumping at the sound of footsteps coming up behind him.

He wasn't too worried about who it could be, unless Emily showed up because all of his other friends were welcome right now. He would love to have someone to unload all of his thoughts on that would not yell and scream at him for them. He knew that Kim and Tommy had a well deserved I-told-you-so to say, but he would even welcome that right now. They would at least listen to him after they got through.

"Just me. I'm surprised to see you here. I thought you would be teaching Emily some manners," Trini said, jokingly, as Jason saw the hurt in her eyes, but the pain she was feeling was well hidden everywhere else.

She really was the person he wanted to see here with him, but he dreaded to have to tell her that he had gone against what she asked. No one else would be mad at him, they actually would be happy to hear it, but there was a definite possibility that she might be mad at him. She did not want to cause a break up, but she inadvertently had. He was grateful for it, but she might not be happy about it at all. She didn't like to cause stuff like this; it was't a part of who she was.

"I'm not talking to her right now, Trini. She shouldn't have said anything like that to you. She doesn't know you, at all and she has no right to say that about my best friend," Jason said, solemnly, as Trini still avoided sitting down next to him and choose to stand several feet away.

She knew that she had gone walking with a purpose earlier this afternoon, but it wasn't until now that she figured out why she had gone to all of those places. It was in the hopes of bumping into Jason and maybe being able to set things straight between them. She just hadn't thought that she would find him here. This place was way too obvious for his liking and he usually avoided these places when he was trying to think.

"Jason, she's your girlfriend. I expected her to be like that, well maybe not as bad as it was, but I did expect some sort of lashing out. Not many people understand our friendship, you know that," Trini said, as Jason looked at her.

Well, he might as well admit to her that they had broken up and take the wrath that he was sure was headed his way. He just couldn't do what she had asked him to do this time. It was causing both of them too much pain and he couldn't stand to see her hurting, especially from something that he had done.

"Not anymore, Trini. She…I…you're more important to me. I don't want to lose you because of what some girl thinks," Jason managed to spit out as Trini took several more steps back from him.

She couldn't believe him. She did not want him to do that because of her and she knew that was what had pushed him over the edge was her being there. Maybe she should have stayed in Geneva and never come on this trip, then things would at least be comfortable between the two of them.

"Jason, why? She seemed nice," Trini lied, as Jason shook his head. Well if he had to say it was because she was not Trini, then he would say it. He just hoped that it did not come to that.

"Trini, she is not who I want to be with. Can you just accept that and sit down?" Jason asked as he patted a patch of grass next to him. She looked at him and then sat down on the patch of grass he had indicated next to him. "Now, what are you doing out in the park at this time of night? It's not safe for anyone anymore."

"Except it is safe for you, right? Since you're a ranger and I'm not?" Trini asked as he looked over at her to see her attempting to not laugh hysterically at him. He always acted protective in the past, but this was starting to become ridiculous.

"Trini, you're not a ranger anymore and for all those weeks we didn't have powers, we had to patrol the park at night. I'm still used to doing this alone and it gives you time to think about things, without anyone being around you," Jason said as an excuse, knowing that she probably wouldn't buy a word that he said about his reason to be out here.

"Still, you have your powers back. You shouldn't be out here, either. You should be hanging out with the gang or at home resting for the next battle. You know that better than anyone else, Jase," Trini said, as Jason knew that she was avoiding the subject that he had first questioned her on.

"Okay, I admit I shouldn't be here, but you still haven't said why you are here. Let's face it, you only come out here when you have something to think about yourself, Tri," Jason said, as Trini looked over at him and then looked away from a few moments.

Damn him! He knew her better than she had thought and she did not really want to admit that right now. No matter what he had said to her already, she didn't want to have to admit her feelings so soon. She wanted to have some time to feel everything out and really see where he was.

"Um…I went for a walk this afternoon," Trini said, vaguely, as Jason looked over at her. How in the world was going for a walk this afternoon what had landed her here, next to him, at eight o'clock at night?

"Trini, what in the world does that have to do with you being here now?" Jason asked, as he had been at the park for the past few hours.

He had been trying to think of how to talk to her, as talking to Emily had been simple, but he had not been able to figure it out. He was just going to have to go with everything as it came up, which didn't work for him a lot of the time.

"I was looking for a friend to talk to," Trini said as Jason gave her a curious look. How many places had she been this afternoon looking for a particular someone?

"Who? Which friend?" Jason asked, as he could imagine that she had run into Tommy or Kim, sometime today, as they had to be worried about both of them, in some shape, form, or fashion.

They had definitely been worried about the two of them when they had gone their separate ways after Emily's hissy fit. They knew that if the two of them were fighting, then all hell would really break loose among the rangers. Jason needed her as a friend in order to keep his sanity and they all hoped that Trini realized that.

"You, I kinda made an afternoon of it," Trini said as Jason wondered why she would do that, instead of talking to Kim about Emily's actions today. She was really starting to confuse him now. "I called Zack, he said that he wanted me to talk to you. So I went looking for you and I found you, but you are not as easy to find as you used to be."

"Zack. Is that why you came out here?" Jason asked, as he knew it was fishy for her to just show up.

She actually enjoyed the Peace Conference, while he had had a hard time adjusting to that way of life. She had made it easier on him and he had in turn helped her with her endless nightmares. Losing their powers had done odd things to all of them, but Trini had seemed to suffer the most and he was the only one that could help with it.

"He made me. I've been kinda miserable these last few months and he thought coming home would help me some," Trini said as Jason knew he could probably trace her unhappiness back to the day he had left Geneva to come to Angel Grove.

They had become so close and now he knew that she would never be pushed aside by him again. He could not lose her the way he almost had by his dumb actions he had committed when he became scared. He knew that he could not let his fear of failure overcome him again. He had to do something before it was too late.

"It's not going to help you if you won't let us help you. Why were you miserable out there?" Jason asked while Trini laid down in the grass and looked up at the sky. There had been so many more stars in Geneva, but she was willing to trade all of that to have Jason beside her right now. "Trini, please tell me."

"You left. You left me to be with the rangers. I couldn't be selfish and tell you not to go, but when you left, I realized how alone I was. I was lost," Trini mumbled and he looked down at her from his seated position.

He felt as tall as a blade of grass looking at her. She had cried for months because of him, gone to class without sleeping an hour the night before and tried to act as if her whole world had not been torn up, when it really had been, all because of him leaving to be a ranger again. It seemed so selfish to him now, but he knew that she would have killed him if he had not come back. They had both thought that it would not be as bad as it actually turned out to be.

"I didn't realize what I was doing until I left there Trini," Jason said as he laid down next to her. He silently reached out for her hand and felt that she had been sweating. He really was worried about her now and he could tell she was still nervous about being around him. He hated knowing that she felt nervous around him. They had known each other for ages and she should not be this nervous around him. "I ran away because I was scared."

"Scared of what, Jason? You've never been scared of anything in your life," Trini said, as Jason did rarely show his fear of anything to anyone, but her.

"Trini, I was scared of falling for you. I was scared of losing what I have right now and I almost did, because I tried to replace you. You see how well that went," Jason mumbled, as Trini slowly turned her head to where she could see Jason's face and noticed he was staring straight up at the sky.

If she had not known him, she would have thought he was confident, but that was not the case. He was really worried about all of this and he did not want to see rejection by looking at his friend and finding nothing more than friendship in her eyes.

"Well, I wish you would have said something to me," Trini said as she watched him turn to face her. She knew he was expecting her to be mad at him, but she wasn't. She was just glad that he was finally being honest with her.

"Why? So you could tell me that you only want to be friends? Trini, I couldn't make you feel that uncomfortable about everything. I thought that I was protecting you, but I hurt both of us," Jason said, as they heard a clap of thunder, but both of them ignored it. It probably wouldn't rain for a few hours, as the weather here was always odd.

"Jason, we can try to make things right because I'll admit I was wishing that you would say something then. Jason, I was dumb too, but we need to be able to talk about all of this. We can't just jump into it. We're going to be half a world apart. You know what that does to people," Trini said as it began raining and she sat up. She was wearing a white tank top with her shorts and she knew Jason would figure it out soon. She didn't want him to figure it out, but he was no moron and he was a teenage guy. He was bound to look at her sometime and have his eyes pop out of his head. "Come on, we better be heading to your car or somewhere."

"My car is at Tommy's. So do you want to make a run for it and try to get to the Juice Bar before Ernie closes up for the night?" Jason asked as Trini began to shiver as the water sank into her shirt. Ernie's was much closer than either of the two other choices. She just hoped they would be able to get there quickly. "You know the last time this happened we were in our ranger suits."

"Jason, at least we had a purpose then. How are we going to explain ourselves to Ernie and our friends when we show up soaked to the bone?" Trini asked, as they ran along and her hair began sticking to her face, as the water streamed out of it. These sudden storms were something that she hated, but she knew that it could have been much worse. They could be running from a monster right now.

"Don't worry, we're almost there, Trini," Jason yelled, back as he glanced back at her and it was then that he noticed her clothing and nearly fell flat onto the pavement that he was now running on. He knew that he had on two shirts and he was more than willing to give her his top one. He did not want anyone else to see her in that shirt when it was soaking wet. "Here."

"Jase, I'll be fine. It's just a few more yards and we'll be inside," Trini said, as they hurtled down the sidewalk and up to the door of the Juice Bar. The sign graciously read 'open' and the two of them barged into the foyer, glad to be able to get out of the rain.

"You're soaked," Jason said, as he reached down and brushed some of the hair back behind Trini's ear and let his hand linger there. It had been so long since he had done something like that and he had almost forgot how it felt. "Do you want to get some of my karate clothes to change into?"

"I'll be alright. I'm sure that Ernie will have a jacket I can borrow for a little while," Trini said, as she felt uncomfortable about the idea of what others would say if they saw her wearing his clothes. She didn't want another arguement to ensue today because of her. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah," Jason said, as he walked behind her. He was not sure who was at the Juice Bar, but he could only pray that it was there friends. He didn't know if he could deal with people that didn't know about the delicate situation that was at hand.

"What happened?" Kim asked after she vaulted off the balance beam and Tommy went to sit down.

It had cleared out over the last hour and the rangers were the only ones left, except Ernie when Trini and Jason ran in. They were glad that Emily had left or Jason would have been yelled at again. They weren't too sure how much more he could take, as he had only done what he thought was best for the two of them.

"We kinda got caught in the park when it started to rain," Trini said, as she looked down at the puddle on the floor, from the water that was still streaming out of her hair and then she looked over at Jason. He held a dry shirt in his hands and he passed it over to her without a word. She didn't know where he had gotten it, but she was grateful for something that was not soaked with water.

"What were the two of you doing?" Tommy asked mischievously as Kim thumped him on the back of his head. She knew he meant well, but they needed to talk about some things away from everyone else.

"Talking," Trini said, as her teeth chattered together and Jason reached out to put an arm around her. He had to admit that it seemed much colder than normal in here, but he was not going to ask Ernie why it was this temperature today.

"Okay," Billy said, as Trini noticed he was there. She had seen him in passing when he came to Tommy's welcome back party. She had been fairly concerned about Jason and had not paid attention to much of anything else, including Billy.

"Billy!" Trini yelled as she ran over to give him a hug and managed to soak ever inch of his shirt with her hair while Jason and Kat laughed at them. They had all been wondering how long it would take Trini to realize that Billy was back. "Why didn't you say hey earlier?"

"Well, you were preoccupied with your own thoughts. I thought it best to leave you alone. I certainly did not want to receive your wrath, I have been most unfortunate to have that happen before," Billy said as he looked down at his soaked clothing and Trini, then nodded towards Jason. "So, you took Zack's advice?"

"How'd you know?" Trini asked as Jason was now toweling off with a towel Ernie had brought him.

"Zack is the only one who would set you on the crusade you were on this afternoon. He knows too much about the situation," Billy said as Trini sighed. He really was right about that. "Go find some dry clothes, Trini."

"What's wrong with this?" Trini asked, as she looked down at the shirt and saw that it officially looked like a short dress on her, but it was keeping her warm and the towel that Jason had now thrown around her shoulders was helping too.

"It's Jason's," Emily said, as she had come back to pick up some bags that she had forgotten. Trini froze on the spot she was standing in and looked over at Jason. He looked mad, but in the back of his eyes she could see that he was inwardly smiling. He didn't care what Emily had to say, as long as Trini was fine. "You move on very quickly."

"Jason," Tommy said, as he thought that Jason was going to explode, but Trini surprised them all.

"He has not moved on. We're only friends," Trini said stubbornly, as Jason reached out and pulled her back towards him. He knew that Trini was irate and he had to make sure that she did nothing. There was not much he could do, except hold her still, even if Emily did get mad about it.

"Trini, do not do this," Jason said as Trini looked up at him. She was going to listen to him, but it was only because of the fact that he seemed to have more common sense right now.

"Yes, Trini. Listen to Jason, he'll never lead you astray," Emily taunted as Jason hugged Trini to him and felt her shaking in his arms.

"Emily, you're mad. You are not thinking rationally. Please just go," Jason said, as he was trying to keep his own composure and hold Trini still, which was becoming harder by the second.

"Fine, Jason, I'll go. But remember that it is only a matter of time before he does this to you as well," Emily said, as she stormed out of the Juice Bar and managed to slam the door on her way out.

"Don't worry about it," Jason said, as Trini glared up at him. She had just wanted to see him and be around him, but it seemed that wouldn't work for either of them. They had to be together and Emily was just going to have to learn to deal with it as well.

AN: I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter. It may be a little while before the next chapter comes out, so please be patient with me. I'll try to make it worth your wait.


	8. An Answer

_Disclaimer: _I do not own the Power Rangers or anything affiliated with the subject. I do, however, own the character of Alex Meyers.

"Trini…Trini…Trini! Wake up!" Kim yelled as she rapped on the door and continued to get no answer from her best friend. Jason was now laughing, as Kim opened the door, flipped on the lights and walked into the rather messy room. She hadn't bothered to clean it since she had moved in and she could tell the Trini had just made herself at home in the mess. She had been in no mood to care about those sorts of things lately.

"Kim, please. I don't want to get up because I think that I just had the best dream of my life. I don't want it to end," Trini said, as Kim stripped off the covers and revealed her in her sports bra and shorts. "Kim!"

"Trini, it is not a dream. So, get up," Kim said as Jason now stood in the doorway to get a better view of the scene playing out in front of him. He was surprised that Trini had not yanked the covers away from Kim, but she seemed to be too dazed to do much of anything.

"No, it was. Jason wouldn't just break up with Emily like that. Not just for me any ways. No, it had to be a dream and I just need to go back to sleep and not wake up," Trini stammered as Kim just shook her head.

She had seen Trini be like this a few times in her life and everytime it happened she had to do drastic things to get her back in the right frame of mind. She was not sure that she was really up to that this morning. She did not want to deal with an angry best friend, as Trini was sure to be that once she got her senses about her.

"Jason's here and he wants to speak to you…"

"Badly," Jason interjected, as Kim stole a glance over at him and she could see the obvious concern in his eyes. He hadn't seen Trini like this before.

"Yes, badly," Kim said, as Trini looked up for the first time and realized that Jason was in the room and jerked the covers over herself, causing Kim to flip off the bed.

"Please tell me you didn't hear everything I said," Trini said, desperately, as Jason smiled over at her.

"Every word, Trini. Go on, get dressed, do whatever you have to do, but we have to talk. I'll wait as long as I have to," Jason said, as Trini nodded and Kim carefully propped herself up on an elbow so she could glare at Trini properly. Jason then turned and walked out of the room, in silence.

"Was that real?" Trini asked as Kim nodded her head yes and then threw a pillow at Trini. She still was not too happy about her throwing her off the bed. "Hey! What was that for?"

"You flipped me off the bed!" Kim yelled as Jason peeped in, glared at Kim and then closed the door. He didn't need for her to make Trini mad about something or the two of them would fight for hours. "I'll leave you alone now. Go get ready!"

"I owe you one," Jason said, as Kim nodded her head and rubbed her backside, gingerly. It had been a long time since she had been thrown off a bed like that, but she was sure it would be worth it if Jason and Trini would be happy. "Sorry she threw you off. I didn't think she would be that bad."

"I kinda expected it Jason. I won't lie about that to you. Good luck, she's still a skeptic. I don't know why she is, but she is," Kim said, as she walked forward, grabbed her keys and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Jason asked as Kim stopped walking and turned to face him. "I thought you were staying around."

"Nope, I'm going with Tommy. He's got a match this afternoon. I promised I would go and I'm not breaking a promise after just getting him back," Kim said, simply, as Jason looked at her with a questioning gaze.

"Who? And why so soon?" Jason asked, as he plopped down on the couch and grabbed to remote to flip on the television.

"Don't know. That's why I'm going with him. If the two of you go anywhere, the extra set of keys is in the back door. Be good, Jason and don't hurt her," Kim said with a smile, as she walked out and closed the door.

"You did your good deed for the day?" Tommy asked, when she walked outside and she nodded her head.

"Yeah, now let's just hope that Trini does not have a breakdown. Jason really needs her right now and I don't know what he'll do without her," Kim said as Tommy nodded, while she hopped into his jeep. "Now tell me about this tournament."

Trini could not believe that Jason was sitting in this house right now and she couldn't believe that he heard her ranting tirade. She rarely doubted herself, but when it came to Jason, she seemed to constantly be in doubt, for some reason. She couldn't say all this to him though. That did not seem to be what he was here to talk about, anyway.

She thought about all of this as she showered and managed to pick out something to wear. Clothes had never been of a real importance to her, but it suddenly seemed that Jason would just change his mind if she was wearing the wrong thing. Jason didn't really care, but she didn't know that and didn't want to take a chance with it. Things had changed a lot between them in the last few days.

"Good grief. What is she doing?" Jason wondered aloud as he had been sitting there for an hour already and she was still not ready. He had stopped by her house in the past and she could take a shower and be out the door in fifteen minutes. What had changed since then?

"Sorry, Jason. I didn't think I'd be doing anything today. Otherwise I would have showered off last night," Trini said, walking out as Jason nodded his head.

"Trini, it's fine. I was going to wait here as long as it took you, although you did take a little bit longer than I thought you would," Jason said, as Trini sat down across from him on the couch and he sighed. He wished that she would have sat down right next to him. It would have made him feel better about all of this. "Come on, we're going to go up to the Command Center."

"Why there?" Trini asked, as Jason grabbed her hand and pressed his communicator buttons.

"I don't have to take a key," Jason said when they landed in the empty lounge. "Come on, the gym should be empty. Almost everyone has gone somewhere for the day."

"Jason...I think I dreamed it all," Trini said as Jason laughed, a gentle laugh. He could understand that she must have dreamed it so many times that she thought it was impossible for it to come true, but now it was.

"Then I dreamed Emily slapping me this morning," Jason said, as Trini's eyes widened and he sat down on a bench and then pulled her down next to him. "It's all right. I really expected her to do it yesterday, Trini."

"Hey...I didn't..."Trini said, as Jason held up his hand and she immediately fell silent, although she had not had any sort of sentence formed in her brain.

"You did nothing. I was the one who fell in love with someone and then tried to date someone else. I played her more than she did anything to me," Jason said as Trini watched him fidget out of the corner of her eye.

"So you deserved it?" Trini asked, as Jason shook his head yes. He was willing to admit that much, even if he didn't admit much more about the situation.

"But you didn't deserve what she did to you. It doesn't much matter that she's mad at me, you weren't the one who did this. You weren't the one that had a change of heart, I did and Trini she still wants to have a heart to heart with you. I can't let that happen, I know what she would do and I'd wind up doing something that would not be good," Jason said, as Trini just shrugged. She'd talk with Emily, but she made no guarantees that it would be peaceable. "When are you going back?"

"I don't know. Zack just gave me a ticket here and told me to come back when everything was straightened out. Other than that, I was given no instructions," Trini said, as Jason nodded his head.

"You know we haven't talked about us yet," Jason said, as Trini nodded her head.

"That's the least of my worries. I don't think there is much to be said," Trini said, as Jason sighed. It seemed that he was going to have to talk about this situation. Trini had already reached her limit of conversation on that topic.

"There's a lot to be said. What about when you leave? What are we supposed to do?" Jason asked, as Trini just looked at him.

"We can't be sure of anything and we're not even together, Jase. I think we should give it some time, so you can make sure of your feelings," Trini said, as Jason suddenly stood up and she quickly turned her attention to him.

"Trini, that's what I need you to understand, I am sure. I left Geneva because I was that sure and that scared of what might happen if I kept on having those feelings. I didn't want this to happens to us; I didn't want things to change, but they did. I told you already that I was trying to protect us from possibly hating each other later, but I can't do it anymore. I can't sit back and watch you feel like this, when I know I feel the same. Trini, please don't make me wait any longer," Jason begged as she just shook her head.

They were going to be so far away and he was still asking for them to go out. Didn't he know what this had done to their friends? And Kim and Tommy had been in a relationship for awhile and things had happened. Who was to say that they weren't just setting themselves up for disaster?

"Why didn't you want it to change? Why didn't you want to be something more?" Trini asked, as Jason sat down directly in front of her.

"Because I thought we'd lose this. I thought we would lose being able to just ask a question or be honest with each other. I thought I'd lose your friendship in exchange for something that I'm not sure I'll like as much," Jason said, as Trini threw her arms around him for a long hug. "What was that for?"

"You being so silly. Jason, love will only make us stronger, not weaker," Trini said, as he smiled. "But I really will have to leave here soon. I can't stay away from the Peace Conference for too long. They'll start wondering where I am."

"I know and I'll miss you," Jason said as Trini nodded her head. She felt the same, but she never wanted to shy away from an obligation.

"I'll miss you too, but Jason, isn't there something you need to ask me?" Trini asked, as Jason shook his head yes and then looked her dead in the eyes.

"When are you coming back?" Jason asked, as Trini playfully swatted at his arm and he laughed. "Okay, okay. Will you go out with me?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Trini said, as he gave her a hug and she snuggled in closer to him.

She had come home, looking for an answer to her heart's desire and she had found what she had been looking for. She just hoped that this was not something that would disintegrate with her time away in Geneva. She didn't really want to say good-bye to Jason, but she knew that would come, although good-bye would not be that bad this time. She knew that she would have someone to come home to.

AN: All right, this is the end, but there will be an epilogue, I'm not going to leave all of you completely in the dark about how things turn out. I hope you have enjoyed this and I have just one more chapter for you.


	9. Epilogue

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do, however, own the character of Alex Myers who is mentioned in the first chapter.

_Epilogue_

_Trini's POV_

As I sit in this plane, I think about the last time I made this long, lonely trip from Geneva to Angel Grove. I did not know what I would be going home to that time. I didn't know what I would find or who would be able to help me with my problem. This time I know what I will find and who will be there waiting for me when I get off the plane. My time at the Peace Conference has been exhausted and Zack and myself are coming home, back to the place where we truly belong.

"What time are they supposed to get here?" Tommy asked, as Jason was pacing around the airport terminal. Everyone else had stayed at Ernie's to prepare them a welcome home party. While Trini would have loved to see Kim, they knew it was more important for Jason to be at the airport. They knew that he couldn't wait any longer than he already had.

"Five, without any delays," Jason said, as Tommy looked at his watch and said nothing. It was already six o'clock and he didn't want to make Jason any more nervous than he already was. He had been getting excited over the last week and today, he had been almost unbearable at school. All of them were glad when it was over, so he would be able to go somewhere with Tommy and wait. "I know, it's been an hour already. That just gives them more time to fix up Ernie's."

"Yeah, but you know that Kim will be getting in touch with us soon. She's not too happy about being there instead of here," Tommy said as he tapped his wrist and Jason laughed for the first time in several hours. He could imagine Kim barking out commands in the next few minutes if they didn't show up.

"Thanks for being here," Jason said as they heard an announcement for the plane landing and shook his head. He knew it would be at least thirty more minutes before he saw her and he didn't really like that idea at all. He had waited too long as is.

"Hey, you aren't the only one who has had this happen. I know what it is like," Tommy said as Jason gave him a look. Yeah, Tommy had been through it, but it was definitely a different situation.

"Tommy, it's been different with you. You have her here and she's happy. I don't know what will be coming back to me in a few minutes. I don't know what she'll be like and I don't know if I can take it," Jason said as Tommy nodded his head and then went to sit down. He was going to leave Jason to his own thoughts, as he was no help right now.

"Don't you get nervous on me now," Zack said as they headed down the gangway and Trini was wringing her hands. She hadn't seen Jason in close to a year and she didn't want to have to start over. She wanted to just get back to where they had left off, but she knew that would probably be hard. Things had changed so much lately and they both knew that. "You know Jason wants to see you."

"It's been a year, Zack. What if things have changed between us? What if its not the same?" Trini asked as Zack gave her a stern look and continued down the gangway.

"Jason would have told you that Trini. He cares about you too much to let you think things would be fine when they aren't," Zack said, as he walked out into the open first and immediately spotted Tommy. It had been almost two years since he had seen Tommy last, but he still seemed to be the same guy. "Hey man, long time no see."

"Zack, where's Tri...ni?" Tommy asked as he looked over Zack's shoulder and saw Jason and Trini in a strong embrace.

"Dude, I've been trying to convince her the whole trip that Jason hadn't changed his mind about her. She'd have my ass if he had," Zack said, as they moved to try to give them some privacy in the rather crowded Angel Grove airport. They knew that they needed to do some catching up.

"So, how's it been with you?" Tommy asked as they sat down in the chairs and watched Jason and Trini out of the corners of their eyes.

"Good, I've missed this place, but it's been good for us. We grew up a lot," Zack said, as he watched a plane lift-off and went into his own deep thoughts about the last time he had been here, watching planes leave Angel Grove with an unknown destination.

"It's so good to have you back," Jason whispered as Trini let out a few happy tears against his chest. She had been waiting for this hug for the past year and it felt so good to her right now after thinking about it for the past few months. She knew that Zack had been right to say that nothing had changed. "I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too," Trini muttered as Jason loosened his embrace so that he could look down at her.

"Will you ever leave me again?" Jason asked, almost sounding desperate, as Trini gave him a bright smile.

"Only if you want me to," Trini said as Jason gave her a kiss on the cheek and then stepped back to get his first full look at her in a year.

"Oh, I love you, Tri," Jason whispered pulling her into a hug and then giving her a gentle squeeze.

"I love you, too, Jase," Trini whispered back, as he let go of her and the two of them began searching for Tommy and Zack, who merely raised their hands and waved from their chairs several feet away. "Don't you just love them."

"Yeah, I really do," Jason said, as he knew that the two of them knew just how much they needed a few seconds together without worrying about anyone who really knew them hearing something that personal.

"Hey, you two get reacquainted?" Tommy asked as Zack and he stood up and Jason just nodded his head, although he didn't think that that was going to be quite enough to last him for the day.

"Enough for the time being," Trini said, as Tommy just shook his head at her response. He knew that Jason was thinking it, but he was certain that he had never expected Trini to say it. "Where is everyone else?"

"They had some things to do this afternoon, but we'll meet up with them at Ernie's. You two ready to get your luggage?" Tommy asked, as they nodded their heads and headed for the luggage claim.

_Ernie's_

"Kim...Kim, come back here!" Billy yelled, in vain, as Kim ran outside to greet Trini and Zack, as they had seen them pull up through the windows. "Great."

"You know she couldn't wait any longer. They are over an hour late, Billy and Kim's not patient," Kat said, soothingly, as Billy just shook his head. He would hate to think that all of their work to surprise Zack and Trini would go to waste because Kimberly just had to see Trini right away.

"Trini! It's so good to see you!" Kim yelled as she jumped up and gave Trini a hug, which caused the two of them to tumble onto the grass in a tangled heap.

"God, I've missed this," Trini said as the two of them began laughing, while Jason, Zack, and Tommy laughed at them. "Kim, can you get off me?"

"Nope. I haven't seen you in a year. I'm going to take all the time I want," Kim said, as Tommy and Zack watched Jason's facial expression harden some and the two of them just shook their heads.

"Don't be jealous, Jason," Tommy said as Kim and Trini both looked up to see Jason's face and Kim immediately jumped off of Trini.

"Sorry I forgot about you," Kim said as she gave Jason a hug and then turned to see Zack standing by Tommy. "Why didn't you say something?"

"I thought it would be best to just watch," Zack said as Kim gave him a hug and then gave him a light smack on the face. "I deserved that."

"No, Jason's the one who really deserved that," Tommy said as Jason finally seemed to get his senses back about him after his little daydream.

"Jason, have you been thinking bad thoughts?" Kim asked, suggestively, as Jason violently shook his head no. He didn't exactly trust himself to speak just yet. "Come on, let's go inside."

"I can't wait to see Billy. It's been two and a half years and that's way too long. I hope that he hasn't changed too much," Zack said as they walked into the darkened Youth Center. "What have you done?"

"Nothing," Tommy said, innocently, as he could lie the best out of the three of them that were allowed to talk.

"Surprise!" The other rangers yelled, flicking on the lights and jumping out from behind a table.

"Guys, you didn't have to do this," Trini said as Kim and Tommy nodded their heads that they certainly did have to do this for the two of them.

"Look, Trini, you'll get all the time with Jason you want in a couple of hours. Please tell me you can put up with us for that long," Kat said as Trini nodded her head, thoughtfully, as Jason covered his face.

"What is there to be embarrassed about, Jason?" Zack pried as Jason, roughly, handed him a coke and gave him a look that clearly said it would be best for him to shut up, immediately. "Hey, Billy."

"Hey. How was the flight?" Billy asked, as he had heard of Zack's fiasco the last time they flew and he hoped that history did not repeat itself today.

"Smooth sailing. Trini didn't let me sit by the window again, but I can't really imagine why she would do that," Zack said, as Billy smiled. It was good to have all of his friends' back, even if it would only be for a short while.

"I can," Kat said, as she had heard the story of his trip as well.

"Where's Ernie?" Zack asked, as he scanned the place and still had not seen him.

"He's probably in the back. It's been really busy around here lately since the Machine Empire's taken a little break. You know how it is when people feel that things are secure," Tanya said as Zack looked at her and realized she must have been Aisha's replacement.

Then he looked over at Rocky and he knew that things for him had been extremely rough. He hadn't seen her in a year and despite what everyone thought, Zack knew they were much more than friends. And it pained him to think that the two of them might never see each other again.

"Where did Aisha go?" Zack whispered as Tanya pulled him away from the others. They had all heard the story before, but Zack and Trini hadn't and they needed to know NOT to mention it around Rocky. That was an extremely touchy subject right now.

"She's in Africa right now. I'm not quite sure if we'll ever see her again, but Rock y said he's going to find her after graduation. We're not going to try to stop him. It's something that he has to do," Tanya said as Zack just shook his head.

"I've never loved someone like that. I wish I knew what it was like," Zack said as they both, instinctively, looked at Kim ad Tommy, then over at Jason and Trini. Kim and Tommy were laughing at something that Adam had said, while Jason just had his arms around Trini while they were talking to each other.

"Yeah, but you can't call their relationships 'normal' by any means. Look at everything that has happened to them. They've kinda been lucky," Tanya said with a smile as Adam walked over and placed his arm around her.

"Rocko's taking it rough today," Adam commented as Tanya nodded her head in agreement. He had definitely been down since he heard about Trini and Zack's return, but he was trying to put up a good front for his friends. "Tan, we have to find her, if it's possible, we have to. He's not going to be able to live until we find him."

"I know, but he's got a good start and when he gets to Africa, who knows what he'll find that will help him out," Tanya said as Adam nodded his head as Rocky headed over towards them.

"Three more weeks," Rocky said with a smile as they nodded their heads. They knew he was counting down the days until he got to go and it seemed to be keeping him positive, unlike everything else they tried.

"Yeah, you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Adam asked, as they all were nervous about him going by himself, but he kept on insisting that he go alone.

"Yeah, I'll be fine Adam. This is something that I have to do alone," Rocky said and then turned to go get a plate of food as he knew that his meals were numbered as well.

"Tri, can we leave?" Jason whispered as she shook her head yes and the two of them slipped out and quickly walked outside and set themselves toward the park.

"I've missed this," Trini said as they sat down on the grass and watched the people pass them by without paying them any attention. They were consumed in just being together.

"So have I," Jason said as he put his arm around her and she settled herself against his side.

"What college, Jase?" Trini asked, as she had applied to several in the area, knowing that she would not be able to stand herself if she was more than a hundred miles away from him.

"UCLA, and you?" Jason asked, as Trini smiled over at him. She had gotten her acceptance letter only a few weeks before, but she wanted to talk about it in person. "We're going to the same college?"

"Yeah, I got a full ride and it was close enough that I could come up here if you went somewhere else," Trini said as Jason gave her a kiss on the cheek. "A year is way too long to be away from you."

"Yeah it is," Jason said as Trini lay down in his lap and looked up at the blue sky. "Listen, there is a chance that I might get called back into this again. You know that we haven't defeated them yet."

"And there's a chance the same thing will happen to me. Jase, it's all right, I know that it might happen, hell I actually expect it to happen sometime in the future. It goes with the job," Trini said, as Jason smiled again.

"Yeah, but how do we know…that we'll be okay?" Jason asked, as Trini saw the worry in his eyes. He usually didn't worry about his ranger duties and how they would affect his life, but that was suddenly at the forefront of his thoughts. "You weren't here this last year and I spent it, fighting to see you again. I don't know if I can do that again."

"We'll worry about it when it comes. There's nothing else that we can hope for, Jason," Trini said as a shadow fell over them and Trini sat up to see who had stopped behind them, thinking it might be some of the rangers.

"Nice to see you back, Trini," Emily said, as Trini looked at Jason as if to ask if she should really believe what she was saying and Jason just nodded his head.

"It's nice to be back," Trini said as Emily smiled and then gave Jason a look that only Trini saw.

"I'll see you around," Emily said, as Jason jerked his head around and looked at her. She had been trying for the last year to convince him that he had made a mistake about Trini, so why was she being so nice right now?

"Jason, what was that about?" Trini asked, as he stood up and then pulled her off the ground. He knew that they needed to find a more secluded place, so that they could truly be alone.

"I don't know. Why don't we head somewhere where we won't have to worry about anyone disturbing us?" Jason asked, as Trini nodded her head in agreement. "We'll leave over there."

"Okay," Trini said, as she grabbed Jason's hand and held it tight as she felt the familiar sensation of teleportation go through her and they landed on the roof of the Command Center.

"This is the best view, even though we don't have to pay for it," Jason said as Trini agreed and then sat down next to him against one of the ledges. "I'd sit up here at night while you were gone and just stare at the sky for hours. It let me think and it let me feel. When I was with everyone else, I couldn't do it. The only ones who knew how I felt were Kim and Tommy. Tommy actually told me about sitting up here and when I felt low I came here."

"Jase, your way of dealing with it is much better than mine. I would just lay in bed and cry. My roommate thought I was crazy because every time we got a snippet of news about some freaky attack in Angel Grove, I would cry myself to sleep. I hated it when I didn't know how you were and goodness knows there was no way to find out with my roommate. I had to go to Zack's room just to talk to you on the phone, but it was worth it. We know we can trust each other after this last year," Trini said as Jason nodded his head and then turned Trini to where she was laying down in his lap and looking up at him.

"Yeah, we can," Jason said as he bent down and gave her a kiss.

"Jase, we..." Trini said, rather breathlessly as Jason picked her up and sat her in his lap.

"I know, but it's been a year since I've seen you, I need some affection," Jason said, as Trini turned to look at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"So do I, but you have to be a little less aggressive. I don't want to do anything we'll regret, okay?" Trini asked, as Jason nodded his head. He felt the same when he was thinking with his brain, but his emotions had started to take over, over the last few hours he had had her back.

"I know and I don't want to say that I am just a guy, but..." Jason said with a sheepish smile as Trini laughed at him.

"You are Jason and you'll admit it. I highly doubt Tommy ever says anything like that to Kim anymore," Trini said as Jason placed his forehead against Trini's back.

"Trini, I don't even think Kim and Tommy are trying to hold back anymore," Jason said, as Trini gave him a look and shook her head no. "What do you know I don't?"

"Kim and Tommy haven't had sex yet. Trust me, Kim would have told me that, even if we were half a world apart, it's part of a girls frame of mind. We tell our best friend, you may tell every guy you meet. It's a different concept," Trini said, as Jason just shook his head.

"Trini, I'm pretty sure. Why would Tommy be caring condoms?" Jason asked, as Trini looked at him.

"The same reason you carry them," Trini said, bluntly, as Jason's face reddened and he wondered how she knew that he had condoms at all. "You did leave your wallet in my room once, remember?"

"Why'd you look in it?" Jason yelped as Trini spun around to face him and managed to slap him in the face with her hair.

"I just was curious and that was two years ago, Jase, give me a break," Trini said, as Jason pointed up at the sky and she looked up at it. "I've never seen that before."

"It's normal," Jason whispered as Trini still stared up at the meteor shower occurring overhead.

The two of them sat there for the rest of the night, knowing that the others were probably wondering where they were and they didn't really care. They needed this time together to get back to knowing each other. A year apart can do horrible things, but for the two of them, they somehow managed to grow closer and get over one of them being a ranger and the other being a civilian.

AN: The end. That's it. It's over. All right, there is going to be a story that spins-off from some of the material suggested in this chapter. Please let me know what you think of it and I'll hopefully have ssomething new out for you very soon.


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